Tom Cruise Delivers the Perfect Summer Movie With ‘Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part 1’ | Review
In recent years, audiences have seen a lot of beloved characters returning to long-running franchises for one last victory lap, such as Jurassic World Dominion and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. It is impossible to imagine any of those films’ stars hanging on to those franchises for an almost thirty-year run, while still delivering the same high-octane stunts and adrenaline-fueled action that they were giving in 1996.
With Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part 1, Tom Cruise once again reminds us that not only is he one of the last true movie stars, but he is also one of the last great action heroes. The seven Mission: Impossible films may be spread out across three decades, but there is no other franchise that operates the way Cruise does as Ethan Hunt—even James Bond can’t keep the same actor in the role for that many movies.
There’s something to be said about consistency, and while there are some Mission: Impossible titles that rank above the rest, the first half of the Dead Reckoning duo delivers on all of its promises. It’s very easy to forgive the loose—and sometimes nonsensical—plotline that kicks things off when your pulse is pounding in your ears and your knuckles have turned white from anxiously gripping the armrests. That is, after all, what the Mission: Impossible films have always been about: memorable action set pieces and a sort-of plot that gets pulled together in the background.
Image via Paramount Pictures
Dead Reckoning’s plot is actually one of the more compelling storylines that the franchise has introduced, mostly because it is uncomfortably relevant. Essentially, someone created an artificial intelligence (known as “The Entity”) that rapidly evolved and got out of control. This omnipresent digital entity has been not-so-stealthily rifling through governments to learn from their resources and records like an evil mastermind, and now all of those governments want to take control of the AI for themselves. The hitch, of course, is that the key to controlling The Entity is a literal key—specifically, a two-piece cruciform key that everyone is looking for. And when you have a seemingly impossible mission, there’s only one man you need to call: Ethan Hunt.
The search for the key(s) brings Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) back into Ethan’s circle, as well as Benji (Simon Pegg) and Luther (Ving Rhames), and it introduces a new plucky potential paramour in the form of Grace (Hayley Atwell)—who has also been enlisted to find, or rather, steal the keys for a big buyer. While the script doesn’t necessarily give Ilsa, Benji, or Luther a lot to work with, the trio makes the most out of their screen time. Pegg, in particular, remains brilliant with his comedic timing, especially under duress. As a newcomer to Mission: Impossible, Atwell holds her own against the franchise’s long-standing characters, both friend and foe. The cat-and-mouse game that Grace and Ethan embark on throughout most of the film is really anchored by the chemistry that Cruise and Atwell share. Ethan has always had a way of picking up strays across the films—something that Dead Reckoning points at directly—but his dynamic with Grace manages to feel fresh and new.
While Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie haven’t given any signals that Dead Reckoning is the end of Ethan Hunt or Mission: Impossible, the plotline does seem to be pointing in that direction, at least in a broad sense. While The Entity, and what it is capable of doing, is the overarching threat in Part 1, it’s Gabriel (Esai Morales) who is the film’s true villain—and a villain that goes all the way to the beginning for Ethan. Through flashbacks, we learn a little about their history, and those glimpses are enough to piece together the fact that everyone in Ethan’s circle has a target painted on their back. Gabriel takes immense pleasure in the pain he inflicts on people, both physically and psychologically, and with the assistance of The Entity, he is far more sinister than any other foe Ethan has faced in the past.
Image via Paramount Pictures
Gabriel isn’t the only foe Ethan finds himself up against in Dead Reckoning, though the black-market arms dealer Alanna Mitsopolis (Vanessa Kirby), the assassin Paris (Pom Klementieff), and enforcers Briggs (Shea Whigham) and Degas (Greg Tarzan Davis) are hardly anything in comparison. The film rounds out its cast of characters with the questionably dubious government stiffs Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny) who was last seen in the first Mission: Impossible—another signal that Dead Reckoning is tying up loose ends—and Denlinger (Cary Elwes).
Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part 2 already has a lot to live up to if it’s going to top its predecessor. Dead Reckoning Part 1 delivers a surprising amount of situational humor, in between jaw-dropping stunts, heart-stopping action, and stomach-churning suspense. You will never look at Fiats or trains the same way after the credits roll on this one. While mind-bending stunts are an important touchstone for the franchise, Dead Reckoning doesn’t forget the other key aspects of Mission: Impossible either. That iconic theme still delivers thrills and chills, and the mask gag never fails to impress.
What works so well with the Mission: Impossible franchise, and Dead Reckoning in particular, is that it feels like a movie. It may seem pedantic to say that, but these films don’t rely on CGI to deliver the action—they either make them work with Tom Cruise’s fearless stuntwork or they find a practical way to make it look good. It’s a breath of fresh air to see a film working to marry VFX and practical effects together in a way that doesn’t feel unsettling to watch. With a plotline that is driven by the dangerous nature of artificial intelligence, which tricks and deceives, Dead Reckoning demanded this level of authenticity.
Tom Cruise is once again bringing audiences back to theaters, and with Dead Reckoning it's for one hell of a ride.
FINAL VERDICT: A
